When I moved to FT. Worth in '64 Bill and Alan Sample were two of the first guys I met. Bill had that side ways grin that confirmed that he was up to something! My first ever trip to the principals office was preceeded by the three of us tearing a boys shirt off his back while playing "touch" football!! Nippy Scarborough was the principals name.
At the end of Cool Hand Luke there is a montage of grins on Paul Newman's face. I do not see that without thinking of Bill Miller. My dad loved Bill and so did I.
One night in the Summer before our senior year I received a call from Bill. "Get to my house as fast as you can", jumped in my car and was there in no time. I walked around to his bedroom entrance.
"Gibson you gotta hear this song".He proceed to play "Mule Skinner Blues" on his reel to reel.
To this day I still play that song and have to think about Bill
Bill was larger than life when we were at Stripling. He matured faster than some of us , and was the consummate football star. He was solid muscle. Tough as nails. But, in addition he was always humble and modest. I remember the first time he said "Hi" to me in the hallway. It meant a lot to me. He was always a locker room prankster as I recall. I remember him acting crazy with Hutch Bass, Alan Sample, Duff Maddox and Terry Drennan (at Stripling), and others. Rumor was that Bill was the mystery man putting a jock strap in Pat O'Malley's lunch every day. Can't confirm. Poor Pat. That went on for months !!
I admired Bill very much. Saw him at the 10-year reunion. Sadly, that was the last time I saw him. RIP John Vaughan
You are correct John. Bill was amazingly stealth like in this prank of the jock straps in my lunch. I could never catch him. Finally, one day at lunch I opened my brown paper bag and no jock strap. Finally over I thought. I relaxed and took a bit of my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and he had embedded several rubberbands in my sandwich making for quite a scene as I bit into one and it streched out as I pulled my sandwich away to try to figure out what was happening. I beleive the rubberbands were followed by paperclips. Hard to relax at lunch with Bill on the move. A loveable prankster he was. Pat
I remember Bill more from Striping than at Heights. He was definitely more mature than the average 9th grader. I had him in a couple of my classes and in one he sat two chairs behind me with, I believe, his girlfriend, directly behind me so I couldn't help but hear their conversations. He was definitely more mature than I was anyway. He just cracked me up in class and I had to try and hold it in. I was always jealous because he was just so damn funny and popular with everyone really. Never remember him ever picking on anyone except his friends just being funny. It's strange I probably remember him better than anyone else at Stripling I suppose because he always seemed bigger than life. I didn't hit 6'5" until 10th grade and he was already tall at Stripling. I remember when I had found out he had passed and just thought how short and uncertain life can be even for the best of them.
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Greenwood Cemetery, Fort Worth, TX
Caroline Willett (Carson)
THE GOOD DIE YOUNG!! TOO SOON FOR YOU TO GO! RIP, BILL.
Greg Ferguson
When I moved to FT. Worth in '64 Bill and Alan Sample were two of the first guys I met. Bill had that side ways grin that confirmed that he was up to something! My first ever trip to the principals office was preceeded by the three of us tearing a boys shirt off his back while playing "touch" football!! Nippy Scarborough was the principals name.
At the end of Cool Hand Luke there is a montage of grins on Paul Newman's face. I do not see that without thinking of Bill Miller. My dad loved Bill and so did I.
Russell Dwight Gibson
One night in the Summer before our senior year I received a call from Bill. "Get to my house as fast as you can", jumped in my car and was there in no time. I walked around to his bedroom entrance.
"Gibson you gotta hear this song".He proceed to play "Mule Skinner Blues" on his reel to reel.
To this day I still play that song and have to think about Bill
Libby Walker (Anderson)
Greenwood Cemetery, Fort Worth, TX
John Vaughan
Bill was larger than life when we were at Stripling. He matured faster than some of us , and was the consummate football star. He was solid muscle. Tough as nails. But, in addition he was always humble and modest. I remember the first time he said "Hi" to me in the hallway. It meant a lot to me. He was always a locker room prankster as I recall. I remember him acting crazy with Hutch Bass, Alan Sample, Duff Maddox and Terry Drennan (at Stripling), and others. Rumor was that Bill was the mystery man putting a jock strap in Pat O'Malley's lunch every day. Can't confirm. Poor Pat. That went on for months !!
I admired Bill very much. Saw him at the 10-year reunion. Sadly, that was the last time I saw him. RIP John Vaughan
Pat O'Malley
You are correct John. Bill was amazingly stealth like in this prank of the jock straps in my lunch. I could never catch him. Finally, one day at lunch I opened my brown paper bag and no jock strap. Finally over I thought. I relaxed and took a bit of my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and he had embedded several rubberbands in my sandwich making for quite a scene as I bit into one and it streched out as I pulled my sandwich away to try to figure out what was happening. I beleive the rubberbands were followed by paperclips. Hard to relax at lunch with Bill on the move. A loveable prankster he was. Pat
Robert C Warren
I remember Bill more from Striping than at Heights. He was definitely more mature than the average 9th grader. I had him in a couple of my classes and in one he sat two chairs behind me with, I believe, his girlfriend, directly behind me so I couldn't help but hear their conversations. He was definitely more mature than I was anyway. He just cracked me up in class and I had to try and hold it in. I was always jealous because he was just so damn funny and popular with everyone really. Never remember him ever picking on anyone except his friends just being funny. It's strange I probably remember him better than anyone else at Stripling I suppose because he always seemed bigger than life. I didn't hit 6'5" until 10th grade and he was already tall at Stripling. I remember when I had found out he had passed and just thought how short and uncertain life can be even for the best of them.